400-year-old murder mystery of astronomer 'to be solved'
A tale of murderous intrigue involving a king, a queen and a brilliant scientist could finally come to a close after 400 years as researchers are preparing to exhume the remains of the celebrated Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe following new leads that he was poisoned by a contract killer in 1601.
Last Updated:
23 Jan 2009
Tycho, known by his first name was the custom of the epoch. He has gained scientific repute for his unparalleled bare-eye observations of the skies before telescope was invented and became the first astronomer to discover a supernova, as well to catalogue over thousand new stars.
The flamboyant aristocrat was also famous for his eccentric lifestyle and appearance: he is said to have lost his nose in a drunken duel as a student and used various prostheses of gold, silver and copper. His favourite pet was a moose that entertained the guests at his castle on the island of Hven off the Danish coast, accompanied by a supposedly clairvoyant dwarf named Jepp. The moose died after falling down the stairs following a dinner party when it was given too much beer to drink.
Danish researchers have now found evidence that Tycho, who was also revered as an astrologist and alchemist, was murdered on the orders of his king, Christian IV of Denmark, who instructed the astronomer's cousin to poison him with mercury.
The new leads derive from the diary of Count Eric Brahe, the alleged murderer and a distant relative to the astronomer, who travelled to Prague, where Tycho settled towards the end of his life, to meet Tycho days before his death.
"The diary contains the details of the attack and, indirectly, the murderer's confession," said Professor Peter Andersen, a specialist on literature and history of the Danish renaissance, who found the lost diary last year.
Professor Andersen claims that King Christian IV ordered the murder of Tycho because of rumours that the astronomer had a liaison with his mother, Queen Sophie, and could even have been his father. He even believes that Shakespeare was aware of the rumour and that he might have used it as inspiration for the plot of Hamlet, which was written around the time of Tycho's death.
Historians have so far been unable to explain why King Christian IV turned against Tycho, who was Denmark's most popular scientist, and forced him to flee to Prague and take up service with the Habsburg Emperor Rudolph II.
An analysis of hair from Tycho's beard kept in a Czech museum has confirmed that he ingested a large and probably lethal dose of mercury on the day before his death, when he was visited by his cousin.
An international team of archaeologists and forensic experts headed by the Danish archaeologist Jens Vellev from the University of Aarhus have now filed a request to exhume Tycho's remains from the ancient vault in the Tyn Cathedral in central Prague.
A popular legend has so far indicated that Tycho died after his bladder burst at a banquet organised by a German baron in Prague because he was too polite to excuse himself from the festive occasion.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/denmark/4322720/400-year-old-murder-mystery-of-astronomer-to-be-solved.html 